Afterglow: A Minecraft Tale-Hero's Bane joint sequel
by Amanda the Huntress
Summary: Year 1089 after the Shadowfall. Dragon and I have lived in and protected our vast lands given to us by Notch for a millennium, when a rumor reaches our ears: A white-eyed ghost terrorizing the land beyond our domain. Elated that Herobrine is alive but afraid of what I might find, Dragon and I set off to find what has become of an old friend. A TEASER FOR BLACKDRAGON41's CONTEST
1. FOUND

**Hello readers, and Hello BlackDragon41! I, uh... sorry I'm late. I promised this chapter five days ago... oh, well. Here's a happy late publishing! To all of you clueless readers out there, BlackDragon41 declared a challenge that I simply couldn't resist! Read up on the challenge rules in her story, Hero's Bane at the end of chapter 76. I would like you to know that I'm breaking all the rules and having a grand time at it, and I hope you enjoy! Make sure you read both Hero's Bane up through chapter 76, and A Minecraft Tale (my story) up through chapter 13. Otherwise, you'll be scratching your heads wondering what you missed. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_I sat down to write again today. _

_As the one who always goes off and makes trouble, I guess it serves me right that I have to write it all down. It has been...well, I haven't counted the years now. My tale is sitting on the pedestals alongside the _Chronicles _and the Books of Herobrine and Notch, collecting dust and looking just as old. Has it really been that long since the Shadowfall? I cannot say. I live beyond time, watching human civilizations rise and fall and keeping the supernatural at bay. _

_If I really wanted to count the years..._

_I had to consult the ancient tomes of calenders for this. According to the old Villager texts, it has been over a thousand years. _

_My Notch, I've gotten old. And with only a single grey streak to show for it. You could say I've become a little wiser and a little meaner, but I haven't changed much at all since then. Ah, well... _

_Anyway, I've finally gone off on another adventure, just like my first so very famous expedition. Yes, I've gotten into trouble, and yes, I've stuck my nose places it doesn't belong, as usual. It's what I'm here for, after all. _

_It would be best if you read my tale beforehand, as it would explain some of the things I mention here. _

_For those who are unfamiliar with me, I am one of seven special creations of Notch, guardians over the Overworld. Our names are Dragon, Rose, Wolf, Dawn, Sky, and Lee. We named ourselves, long ago when we first awakened. We are the most formidable creatures anything has ever met, besides the Creator himself. _

_My name is Huntress, and this is the tale of my newest adventure. _

* * *

My adventure began, like all my adventures, with a breathless librarian pounding on the door as I worked in the forge.

I was in the floor below the ground of my FireForge citadel in a huge forge equipped with lava streams and End crystals, working to finish the repair work on a set of obsidian armor. My old set hung on the wall as a guide. I was just barely able to hear the knocking on the door over my work- I paused, taking off my earmuffs, and sure enough, there was someone there, trying desperately to get my attention. I put down my tools and went to the door, removing my thick goggles.

"Yes?"

"I've been looking all over for you!" The Villager burst out. "Dragon wants to see you immediately."

"Well, why didn't you say so before..." I muttered. "I'll be right there."

Off came my forging leathers, and on went my cloak, and off I went through the door, riding hard for Dragon's city.

He was waiting for me at the gates.

"You won't believe what I found," he said as he helped me off my mount. "Come inside."

Dragon led me down the main street of the rebuilt D.C., (Once called "Diamond City" after the massive amounts of diamonds we found there, and destroyed in the events preceding the Shadowfall for those who haven't read my former tale), and into a small wooden structure, no more than two stories tall. Inside, it was filled with shelves of books, from floor to ceiling. The desk in the center of the space was dominated by a huge map- one bigger than any of mine. I went over to inspect it.

"Dragon- where did you get this?" There was an entire continent covering the lower half of the map that I had never seen before. Ever. I had never traveled past the desert at the south edge of the one we lived on.

"This was brought to me by one of the people living in the savannahs south of here. Do you remember them? We visited them once when the mutagen broke out among the hostile creatures. There was one in particular-"

"Derek. I remember," I replied. "He came all the way here to deliver this?"

"No," Dragon answered. "He delivered it as far as Rose's forest, and she brought it here to me. She thought you might want to take a look."

I rolled my eyes.

"It's a map. A map of a place Notch ordained was beyond our domain. Dragon, what about this map? There has to be a story here." Dragon grinned at me.

"There is." He leaned on the table, smoothing the map with his palms. "Derek told Rose that he heard say of a mysterious shadow stalking the night in the southern continent."

I leaned opposite to him.

"And?"

"And... this shadow has white eyes. Who do we know of that has white eyes?"

I nearly choked then and there. My eyes went wide, and I'm pretty sure flashed white themselves. They still did that when I got upset. I couldn't help it.

"Dragon, I swear, if this is another useless goose chase-"

"It isn't." he interrupted sharply. "I verified it."

"How?" I asked. Dragon wasn't grinning anymore.

"Notch still owed me some answers when we left off at Shadowfall. I went to the Temple to collect when I got this map. Remember when Notch wouldn't answer when you asked what became of Herobrine? He finally told me." I looked up, mixed emotions rising fast.

"Huntress," Dragon continued, "Herobrine is alive."

But before I could leap for joy, he finished his statement.

"But you won't recognize him as the Herobrine you knew."

* * *

The trip we made was a long one. I was ready to rush off at that instant, and Dragon knew better than to argue. My eyes were glaring white the entire time we prepared after our conversation in the D.C. library- perhaps that's what convinced him to hurry and at my pace.

We took our mounts, a chestnut mare and a black palomino gelding, and we were off into the wilds, using the roads where we could and riding open when they ended. We traveled straight south for as long as we could across the open plains, but the dense oak forests had to be skirted around, and the horses couldn't tolerate steep mountains. I led us west over the mesas instead, and at last we reached the savannahs, and from there, we turned southeast again, until we reached the shore.

Derek and his town agreed to take care of our mounts for us as we sailed across the ocean, and just like that, we built boats and went.

The ocean trip went on for over two days and nights of simply staring across the blue. I was sorely tired and aching when we finally struck land and stumbled onto the sand, dragging our boats up with us. I scouted around wearily while Dragon set up camp, and when the sun went down, we rolled into our cloaks and slept beneath the stars.

We traveled and camped for several days on end before we met the first sign of civilization. We came upon a walled-in city filled with less-than-happy people that looked badly fed and fearful of us. The whole town was a wreck- half-broken doors, cracked windows, pockmarked wood, chipped brick...I pulled up my hood and passed them by with Dragon, looking for anything that looked like a tavern or inn. At last, we found one, at the dead end of a dirt road close to the wooden palisade.

"Are there any open rooms for the night in town?" I called as we walked into the dimly lit bar. Dragon quickly ordered some water for the both of us, promising to buy something more expensive later when the bartender gave us a glare. I had to duck my head to hide my flashing eyes. _Humans! _I thought. I tolerated them when they acted immature- they didn't live long so they didn't have much time to learn better, so it was forgivable. Usually.

"No rooms," a man at the bar answered for us. "No beds, no nothing. You'd best be moving along out of town before sunset, foreigners." He got an elbow in the side and a sharp glare from his neighbor.

"Don't mind the old 'un," the other apologized, "But folks in this town don't like outsiders. I hate to be rude, but there really ain't an open place in town tonight. The town watch would want a fine from you if you stayed in the walls too long." I nodded my thanks.

"We'll camp outside of town." The man boggled at me.

"Ye can't be serious!" he exclaimed. "Outside? By night?" I replied with a cold smile.

"Yes," I answered calmly. Dragon shot me a glare that said _stop drawing attention. _

I shot him a sly look back that said _we're already the center of attention. _Dragon sniffed subtly and looked away.

The bartender came over and handed us our glass water bottles. I stopped him and asked him what was on the menu tonight.

"Roast chicken with carrots or steak n' potatoes, and pumpkin pie served with either for desert. Two emeralds per person per meal." he said gruffly. My eyes widened slightly at the price of a good meal, but unwilling to make the man dislike me any more than he did, I handed over four emeralds for Dragon and I to eat.

"Two steak and potatoes then, with the pie." I ordered. The man nodded curtly and retreated behind his bar, calling our orders to the cook behind the drink stand.

"What's the name of this town?" I asked the man at the bar.

"Who me? Ah-" He quieted suddenly at the glare from the bartender.

"Don't go asking questions!" he snapped at us. "Just eat your meal and move along." He passed us our plates. I picked up my silverware and dug into the steak. Dragon left his untouched. He was staring intently at the rude grey-haired man.

"Who went running off?" he inquired. Apparently the old one had muttered something that I had missed. I perked up and listened, my hands falling still.

"I said," the old man threatened as he stood from his stool, "that you and yer cur should move out of town with that _damn _fool Stonewall and-" He was silenced by a hard swat from his neighbor.

"Why you-" he started.

"ENOUGH!" the bartender bellowed. Glaring at us all, he admonished, "NOT in my tavern."

I stood suddenly, striding over to the old man and giving a withering glare to the bartender to stay out of this.

"Listen closely old rat," I growled softly, my face close to his, "Be careful when you call a bloodhound a cur." I flipped my cloak aside to reveal the hilt of my black sword.

"Huntress," Dragon said warningly, and I relented, backing off a few steps. I smiled at the old man.

"We want no trouble here." I seated myself again. "Now, who is this Stonewall figure?" The old man sniffed and the kinder one next to him took over.

"Steven Stonewall was his name. He was a miner in this town. He heard tell of good pickings in the south somewhere and left to see what he could dig. He was a good man- always a little on the fanciful side, though. He always tried to see the best in things, even when he lost everything." He shook his head and looked down at his drink. I swallowed my bite of steak. I realized in that moment he was speaking in past tense.

"I'm sorry, _was_?" I asked, putting emphasis on the word. The man looked back at me.

"He hasn't returned since...since last year, in fact. He wouldn't abandon his family, and he should have come back by now whether he found anything or not. Everyone here thinks he's dead. The shame is, his family can't keep up their rent without him."

_Rent! What human town charges rent for safe housing?! _I was aghast at these people. _Notch, what were you thinking not letting us protect this continent? _

"Where does the Stonewall family live?" I asked, standing up from the table. The men at the bar gawked- our plates were clean in almost an instant. I sighed.

"Where does the Stonewall family live? Tell me." I repeated firmly. The bartender swallowed.

"Edge of town, to the south of here. They're in a two-room oak house."

I thanked the man and left with Dragon.

"Can you ever not frighten them so badly?" He mildly scolded. I grinned wickedly at him.

"First you're going to have to give me a reason to try," I replied, and he chuckled and turned away.

* * *

"Mrs. Stonewall?"

A woman answered the door at the sound of Dragon's voice and looked up at his weathered face, then at me. There was a flash of recognition in her eyes as she looked at my face, and she suddenly backed away and tried to slam the door. Dragon caught it and swung it back open, further scaring the woman. She backed away from the door even further and put her hands up as if to ward off evil.

"Please, we aren't here to hurt you. There's something we just need to ask you."

"No!" the woman burst out. "No, leave me alone, I paid my rent, just leave me in peace!"

"We aren't with the city. In fact, we aren't even from here." I explained. "Please, ma'am, it's urgent. It has to do with your son."

She fell silent then.

"What about my Steve?" She said in a voice barely above a whisper. I exhaled slowly.

"You tell me." I replied. "May we come in?" Mrs. Stonewall nodded dumbly and opened the door fully to allow us entry, even offering to take our cloaks. Her eyes widened at the sight of our armor and weapons, but she tried valiantly to hide her alarm as she hung our cloaks on the wall.

"What is it you wanted to ask me?" she asked. I glanced at the fireplace, where a young girl sat.

"It might be better if we sat down. This may take a while." I said, avoiding the question momentarily. In a softer voice, bent closer to her ear, I added, "It also may be better if you sent your daughter out of the room." She nodded her understanding and went over to the girl, carrying the half-asleep child to the other room and then returning and softly shutting the door.

I gestured for her to be seated, and Dragon sat in the other chair by the fire. I leaned against the warm mantel stones to the right of the fireplace.

"Ma'am," Dragon began in a soft, soothing voice, "We were told of two things when we came. First, a white-eyed specter had been seen in these parts, and when we arrived in town, we heard that your son had gone off. Could these two be connected somehow?" The woman stiffened and paled.

"My Notch," She whispered. I looked up in interest. There was a connection after all? So far we'd just been running on a hunch. She saw the curious gleam in my eyes.

"I- You should go! It isn't safe here, not with you around!" She stood to shoo us out. I swiftly stepped up and grasped her shoulders. She was a small woman, her face lined and her hair greyed more from strife than age. I knew the look. I had grey hairs myself from the same.

"Stop and think about this." I hissed. "Two well-armed, well-seasoned warriors come to your house asking about your son and a being of legend. Our purpose couldn't possibly be for money or for fame- Notch knows we have more of that than any human that walks this world. Now listen closely and listen well. We only want to help. And when I say that, I mean it in full. Nothing, and I mean _nothing _can overpower us. We need information, and I know you have something. Tell me, I'm begging you."

The woman looked at me incredulously, and I realized I was getting nowhere. I stepped back and partially drew my black sword, _Shadowfall. _

"Do you want to know how I got this sword?" I asked the woman, but she was too drawn up in the glittering black depths of the blade to answer. I quickly sheathed it again.

"This is a weapon I procured from the End." She looked up at me like I was insane, but I merely grinned at Dragon, who shrugged from his seat.

"Don't go telling everything," he warned. "Notch owes you this much, but he won't tolerate legends of us spreading outside our domain." I gave him a mock-glare. He shrugged again and rested his head on one hand leaning against the armrest. "Your head, not mine." Mrs. Stonewall looked between me and Dragon several times.

"Who _are _you?" she asked fearfully, taking a step back. Dragon had warned me not to tell everything, so I made her swear to keep what we told her a secret. I took a deep breath.

"We are guardians. A special breed created by Notch. I am here with Dragon on a mission to find someone lost to us long ago."

I explained everything to the woman, who suddenly broke down in tears when I finished. Little by little, we gathered the sobering tale of what had happened to her family- first her husband, then her oldest son, then Steve vanishing off into the unknown.

"That's the last I saw of him." She whispered, tears running down her face. The fire was burning low by then, and I could hear the sound of monsters in the distance.

A single tear ran down my face when she finished her tale. I quickly wiped it away.

_Sweet, blessed Notch, of all times, so help me now..._

Herobrine had murdered her family.

Herobrine was alive all right, but what had he become? Would the cycle of madness ever end? The woman took a shuddering breath.

"You looked so much like him it scared me," the woman said, and I looked up sharply. "You have the same face as him, and those eyes...I could have sworn I saw them turn white." I smiled grimly.

"That's not the first time I've gotten that," I replied dimly. Herobrine and I did look alike in a few ways, I suppose. We had the same straight nose and similar strong jawlines and cheekbones, but my eyes had a certain lilt to them that differed, and my mouth wasn't quite as wide. I was slenderer than Herobrine, and of course, clearly female. But when my eyes went white, I could be mistaken for him from a distance, especially when in armor. Thick plates did wonders in hiding one's gender.

"That's all we need," Dragon assured the woman. She looked at us expectantly.

"Do you need anywhere to stay tonight?" she asked, but I shook my head.

"We promised not to stay in town overnight. Paying fines is annoying." Mrs. Stonewall's face twisted in shock.

"Outside? By night?"

I chuckled at her reaction and rested an easy hand on the hilt of _Firefall _at my side.

"Trust me," I said grimly, "We can handle it. We can probably take it better than the town watchmen."

"If you say so," she sighed, but she seemed grateful. Probably didn't need any fines to pay either.

We were almost out the door when I suddenly turned and pressed a handful of something into her hands.

"I heard you had a nasty debt. I hope these help."

"What? I-"

"Just take them," I insisted. "I have plenty more where that came from."

Dragon and I vanished out the door before the woman could even take a look at what she held. I watched unseen through the window as she gaped at the glistening diamonds in her hand. Then we rushed out into the night, climbing over the cracked and crumbling palisade and into the night without a glance back.

* * *

The sun rose on us at last as we blearily staggered up another rise. We had traveled and fought all night long, and although I usually had a wonderfully good time at this, it got old when we reached the wee hours of the morning. I would be all right with a few hours of daylight.

"Rough night, agreed?" Dragon probed, and I nodded.

"Agreed."

The monsters here were strangely numerous and stronger than the ones back home. There was a healing cut across my cheek where a zombie had managed to swipe at me and gouge deep enough to bleed. That taught me to keep my helm on from then on. Dragon had a bruise forming on his face, but those were the only injuries we had sustained. Still, I was surprised that we had any at all. Dragon and I were both superior fighters.

I grinned mirthlessly. Perhaps we'd gotten sloppy.

There was another long stretch of camping and traveling, and Dragon and I survived on the provisions we brought in our inventories and whatever we could hunt. I was suddenly glad I hadn't used my inventory around the humans. They had no such power, and items just appearing in our hands unsettled them.

I was lighting the campfire one night while Dragon was scouting around, when suddenly, he came running back to camp with a yell.

"What?" I shouted back, dropping my flint and steel. He vaulted over the dirt walls protecting our camp and skidded to a stop in front of me, panting.

"You need to come see this."

Without hesitation, I followed after Dragon down the path he had made crashing through the forest undergrowth, up a steep hill, and then up a tall spruce tree.

"There," he pointed out, his finger guiding my eyes first to a small village nestled behind three cliff walls, and then to what looked like the ruins of a small kingdom. I couldn't make out much in the distance, but I could see the outline of what seemed to be a castle. The ruins of one, at least. It was too dark to tell, and the castle wasn't lit up like the village.

"Looks like something interesting," I began, and Dragon nodded vigorously.

"Looks like adventure, or riches, or just the sort of thing that would attract someone like you..." he began, and I caught on to his line of thought.

"Or someone like our Steve. What do you say?" Dragon turned and looked at the village. Suddenly, he turned and stared. The lights had gotten brighter. Much brighter.

"Wait..."

I looked up too, and I squinted to make out a wooden platform in the middle of the village square. It was livid with light.

"What's going on?" I asked, and Dragon shrugged beside me, rustling the branch resting across his shoulder.

I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"Dragon..." I murmured. He didn't respond, he was watching the platform too intently.

"Dragon!" I snapped, and he turned. "I don't think we're alone." His eyes widened subtly as he realized what I meant. I could sense something else nearby. Very nearby. "We need to split. You check out the village. I need to see who's watching us." He scoffed slightly.

"Why that arrangement?"

"Because you're the charming one," I replied in kind and jumped out of the tree, rolling on my landing. Dragon sighed and came down too, more carefully than I. With a nod, he jogged off in the direction of the village. I went back to camp and produced from my inventory something special I had prepared in case I met the worst-case scenario.

Wrapped up in soft wool was a set of black obsidian armor, the very set I had been working on at FireForge when Dragon called me out. I had finished it just before we left. It shone with End magic, the kind that Sscalaaerfion, the Enderman formerly in a coma in the Nether, had taught me. I touched the crystal around my neck to the crystal embedded in the chestplate, and both shone to life and quickly quieted again. I stripped off my mail and leg irons and put on the obsidian set.

I wanted to be ready if I met Herobrine tonight.

* * *

I knew something familiar was out there. I could feel it in every fiber of my being. There- movement. I locked onto it carefully and tried to discern what it was. But then it was gone, and I was left to grumble in frustration and keep looking.

I was standing atop a tree, scanning the forest, when a head-slamming force blasted into my thoughts.

_HUNTRESS!_

"_Ack!" _I almost lost my balance, and angrily, I sought out the mind that was trying to reach me.

"_You need practice!" _I mentally snapped at Dragon. According to Notch, all guardians had the ability to communicate telepathically over long distances, but it was tricky getting the hang of it. With the help of the Enderman, I had mastered it first, but Dragon was a little slower on the uptake.

"_No time for lectures!" _he hastily replied. "_Get to the village! NOW!" _He lost focus suddenly and the connection snapped off. I swore violently and took off towards the blot of light on the horizon.

I was well out of breath when I crested the rise, but that was nothing compared to the shock I got. There was a stampede of pink squealing creatures tumbling down at the village from every nook and crevice I could see like a rock slide. One almost ran me down as it passed me, and I quickly jumped back up onto the tree. I swore again, from sheer shock and horrified awe.

I had never seen so many pigs at once.

The animals were moving en mass to the village at alarming speed as one body, trampling everything in their path.

_This is just sick..._ I thought to myself, and remembered what I read in the _Chronicles_. Herobrine had used a tactic like this during the Ender War. He would possess animals such as chickens or pigs- the most innocent of creatures- and turn them into terrifying weapons of destruction and slaughter. I remembered the flattened blocks of the Steve city and shuddered.

The pigs had finished their mad rush past me and were entering the village. Not a moment to loose, I focused on the nearest rooftop. Closing my eyes to focus, I called upon the power in my suit of armor and teleported. My vision fizzed with purple sparks for a moment and cleared all at once, and I found myself kneeling on the roof of a village house.

The sight below me was sheer pandemonium. Pigs were racing though the streets much faster than pigs should run, and in huge herds that were trampling down every person in sight. Seeing a child right in the path of destruction, I drew _Firefall _and dove down sword-first, impaling the pig and pinning it to the ground. I swept the child up into my arms and leaped up onto the porch of the next house, depositing the child safely inside.

"_Huntress!" _

"_What?!" _I replied while I yanked my sword from the pig.

"_The platform. Come to the platform!" _

_"On my way." _

Grappling my way up to the roof of the house, I jumped house-to-house to the city square, landing with a resounding _boom _on the wooden planks of the porch stairs, breaking them under me. Pigs were swarming around it wildly, and atop the platform...

_What? _

Blinking in confusion, I saw not one but two very familiar-looking figures. They _both _looked like Herobrine. Squinting, I focused more carefully on the two and sorted them out. One was standing dumbly center-stage, iron cuffs about his wrists with a few links of broken chains. The other was looking murderously at a big man cowering on his back on the edge of the platform, waving an empty bow about uselessly.

I remembered what Mrs. Stonewall had said- Steve looked strikingly like the thing she saw kill her husband. That had to be Steve.

And the monster about to kill the archer must be Herobrine.

Steve was shouting something, but Herobrine took no heed. He lifted up the archer by his neck and threw him headlong into the house across the street. There was a woman inside that saw the projectile coming and ran shrieking for her life out of the house. I saw blood explode in a horrifying spray with the gray dust and screamed.

"_HEROBRINE!" _

Unfortunately, he heard me. Steve was moving to stop him- perhaps calm him down?- but Herobrine vanished off the stage. I was inside the house that instant.

Too late.

Herobrine's sword rang off the back of the armor. I cried out sharply and fell under the heavy blow, but my armor held. Ripping _Skyfall _from its sheath, I met the next blow head-on with one of my own. I was still stuck on the floor, with all the strength of Herobrine holding me down, but I had a thousand years of fighting experience to back me now. I was older and wiser than this version of my once-friend. I heaved off his sword and rolled to my feet, striking hard and fast again and again.

But Herobrine, despite everything, was still crafty. He suddenly switched grips on his sword and, with his fist wrapped tightly around the iron hilt of the diamond sword, rammed it into my face. The blow was angled so my helmet flew off and I was thrown backwards into the air and into the wall from the sheer force of it.

Dizzy, I tried to regain my feet, but Herobrine had his hand around my neck and rammed me once, twice, and then a third time into the wall. Hard. On the third blow, the wall broke from behind us and crumbled. We sprawled out onto the street.

Kicking viciously, I threw Herobrine off and drew _Firefall _from my left hip, gripping it in my left hand and _Skyfall _in my right. I was furious, and my eyes were shining brilliant white to prove it. Herobrine saw my eyes and something seemed to change. His eyes dimmed a few degrees, and he hesitated.

Good.

I sprang forward and attacked without mercy, hoping to throw him off balance and finally beat some answers out of him.

"I-can't-believe-you-spent-this-thousand-years-doing-_this!" _I snarled, putting a blow behind each word. For the last one, I pivoted and aligned both my swords, slashing them parallel in a horizontal line that smashed aside Herobrine's blocking sword and bit deep into his side. Blood pooled around the wounds, and I saw a bright light flare up around them. The wounds were closing already as blood flowed and covered them.

Herobrine met my eyes. In that moment, I had a jarring flashback to the Shadowfall, when Herobrine lay bleeding to death under my hands. He looked deeply into my eyes...

And was gone.

Just like that, I was back into reality, and Herobrine blinked out of view. I shook my head suddenly and looked wildly around, but he had vanished.

Something hit me hard behind the knees. With a yell, I fell backwards as my feet were swept out from under me, and in an instant, a stampede of pigs began to trample over me. My swords flew away from me as I fell- I scrabbled for them, _for anything, _to escape the crushing force of the animals. My hand closed around the smooth hilt of something. Jerking my arm in, I swung wildly with abandon and the creatures burying me in sharp hooves and heavy bodies. Pigs fell squealing, and I was able to regain my feet, reclaim my swords, and flee.

"Huntress!" Dragon was rushing down the street at me, dodging pigs. I ran to meet him, and together, we tore out of the overrun village, desperate to get away and regain our bearings. We turned again and again, until at last, we collapsed just outside the village in a field of wheat. I fell flat on my back and barked in pain suddenly. Realizing my mistake, I flipped moaning onto my back. Herobrine's blow had _hurt. _

"What is it?" Dragon asked. I looked up.

"It's him all right," I muttered, cradling my head in my hands. "He was strong back there. Really strong. What else did Notch tell you about him?" Dragon sat back and sighed. Earlier at D.C., he had explained how Notch had lost track of Herobrine almost entirely. What he knew was that Herobrine would resurrect somewhere, but he didn't know where, and he would likely have no memory of who he was or where he came from.

But his powers would be restored.

"Every last one of his god's abilities is back in him," Dragon re-explained to me then. "But the catch is that he may or may not remember all of them or how to use them."

I sat up painfully.

"Notch help me- What do we do now?" I futilely asked the star-strewn skies above. Dragon scooted up next to me, gripping my hand in his.

"We did find him," he offered. I looked at him, but his expression was serious. "What? Step one: Find Herobrine, complete. Now we just decide on step two."

I gave him a funny look, but decided he was right. Reluctantly, I nodded.

"We did find him," I echoed. My eyes kept watching the stars, as if that would give me any answers at all.

"I just don't know what to do next."


	2. FOLLOWED

AFTERGLOW

PART II: FOLLOWED

I woke up still in my black armor back at camp and extremely stiff to show for it. Groaning, I rolled out of my bedroll and crawled over to the dying embers of the fire, hoping to warm up there.

With the wind that was blowing over the dirt banks, it was hopeless.

Shivering in my armor, I took out a block of netherrack, placing it on the barely-warm ashes of the last fire and lighting it with a single snap of the flint and steel. The camp was instantly flooded with light and warmth. Sighing contentedly, I laid back beside the fire and let it warm my night-chilled plate armor.

Dragon emerged from his bedroll soon after, shaking himself vigorously and then lifting his bedroll and shaking it. I giggled at him. I had slept partially covered by a tree, but Dragon had been dead out in the open. His blankets were stiff with frost.

Seeing my new fire, he dragged his bedroll over and set it as close as he dared to let it thaw out. Then he thunked down across from me and warmed his hands on the flames. He had also slept in his armor, but diamond was more forgiving than obsidian in the cold. I was just glad I hadn't worn iron. Metal? In this winter? Brr...

"Hungry?" Dragon asked as he gazed into the fire.

"Yeah."

He stood up and pulled a few frozen fish and apples from his pack, tossing one of the fruit to me and setting the fish right next to the blaze to crisp. They were cooked, but frozen almost solid. Dragon took a big bite out of his apple and chewed thoughtfully.

"Now what..." I mumbled to myself as I turned my apple in my hands. Dragon swallowed and looked up.

"I saw an exchange go between Steve and Herobrine back there on the stage, you know." Dragon remarked.

"What," I said, "An argument?"

"Seemed like," Dragon replied. "But it was interesting. The scene started with Steve being chained to a wooden crosspiece and archers arranged in front of him- it looked like an execution. Steve was arguing with the man in center stage, one that seemed to be in charge. I didn't catch all of it, but I heard the name 'Herobrine' said several times. Then the stampede of pigs came in, and the archers scattered. A big old man ran up onto the platform and cut Steve's chains, but one archer came back up and tried to kill Steve. That's when Herobrine actually appeared. The archer shot him, but Herobrine just tore out the arrow and proceeded to start beating the living daylights out of the archer. Steve started yelling at him then. I think he was begging Herobrine not to kill him, but you saw how bright his eyes were right then. After he threw the archer into that house, he vanished."

"And went after me." I finished. Dragon looked up at me sharply.

"That was you?" he asked, surprised. I nodded, grinning.

"I, uh, yelled his name, and he heard me. Let me tell you, he gave me a pretty sound beating back there." I sighed. "It was almost as bad as the very first time I met him. When he was at his strongest. He's like that again now, without a doubt..." I trailed off, thinking.

"You know, the one thing I noticed was that he didn't say a word," I thought aloud. "When he was driven mad by the Shadow, he would keep taunting me. As in, he would barely pause for breath between blows. And what..." I had to stop for a moment. Dragon looked at me expectantly.

"What broke him this time?" I choked, looking away and frowning. Taking a deep breath, I kept going. "Herobrine is _not_ innately evil. What's going on this time?" I glanced back at Dragon, who was staring off into the distance, also thinking.

"I wonder..." he murmured. He glanced up sharply. "You know, it never occurred to me to ask Steve." I looked at him blankly and smacked myself.

"Of course!" I laughed, looking up at the cold blue sky. "I'm hopeless. Come on, let's go."

Dragon retrieved our fish from the fire, and we ate them as we walked to the village. The skies clouded over as we went, and a light snow began to fall as we crossed the farmland around the settlement. I pulled my cloak tighter around me and shivered.

From the sun's position, we had slept late into the morning and now it was afternoon when we reached the village at our slow walking pace. The entire place was a wreck. The farmland had all been trampled, and there were many buildings that were totally collapsed or on fire. It wasn't nearly as bad as a massacre I had seen before, but it was a nasty reminder of what a mad god was capable of.

The people of the village avoided us as if we were Herobrine himself. I watched as parents would sweep children out of the way in the streets and flatten against the houses, well out of our path. I mentioned my discomfort to Dragon, who shrugged.

"They're not trying to kill us," he offered and I sighed. He had a point, but I didn't like being avoided. It hit a sore spot for me. I knew what it meant to actually _be _the monster, after all.

One small child broke free of her mother's arms and went running over to hug my leg as tight as she could. The attack came from behind, and I almost fell over. Turning, I was surprised to find a tiny little girl beaming up at me. She pointed one stubby finger up at me.

"Hewo!" she shouted enthusiastically. It took me a moment to realize she was saying 'hero'. Startled and very pleased, I pried her hands off my calf and lifted her up onto my hip. She giggled as I gently bounced her.

"You must be the one I snatched up last night," I cooed, tickling her nose with one gauntlet-covered hand. She giggled and tried to grab my hand, but I pulled it away so she didn't catch herself on any of the sharp joints in the obsidian. A young woman came rushing off the porch of her house, stopping just short of me with a terrified expression on her face. I realized that this must be the mother of child.

"Here you go," I said to the toddler as I lifted her back into her mother's arms. "Back to mommy now." The child giggled and reached out for me with both hands, but I turned and left. Her mother carried her inside, and that was the end of that.

Dragon was giving me this stupid grin when I rejoined him. I glared at him so hard my eyes might have turned white.

"Shut up," I hissed. When he began to laugh voicelessly and tried to hide it, I whirled around and stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Not. One. Word. Got that?" I snarled in his face. Dragon tried desperately to swallow his laughter and nodded, that stupid grin still on his face. We went on our way, with me walking stiffly a half-pace behind Dragon. I was grinning now, too, but I'll never admit that to him.

We didn't know where to find Steve, but I knew how to find him. We came to the village square, where the platform still stood, and I went up onto it, running a hand over the crossbar. A man walked up to me.

"You can't be up ther-"

I turned.

"Where can I find Steven Stonewall?" I asked, startling the man into stepping back and falling off the platform. I heard Dragon's bark of laughter from between the houses bordering the square. The man froze and began to stutter.

"H-he's in the h-house that way," he answered. "Fifth down af-after a turn to the left." I thanked the man warmly and jumped off the platform, moving in the direction the man indicated and leaving him where he lay in the dirt. Dragon followed in a few quick strides.

"Are you ever not going to do that?" he asked, and I stared at him like he was crazy.

"That question was so stupid, I'm not even going to grace it with an answer," I replied, and swiftly turned to the right where the man had indicated. Dragon selected the correct house and hopped up onto the porch, knocking firmly on the door.

"Come in!" a voice called from inside. Dragon opened the door.

There was a single man standing against the wall inside the house- a tall, broad-shouldered man with close-cropped grey hair and a serious air about him.

"Can I help you?" he asked, and as he turned to face us, I saw a spiderweb of scars covering the side of his face and going down his neck. My eyes widened momentarily. Those were Enderman's claw marks. I knew what it meant to have scars like those. My respect for this guy increased by a few dozen points.

"We're looking for a man by the name of Steven Stonewall?" I inquired, and the man came up off the wall to stand before me, stepping very close and towering over me. I knew he was trying to be intimidating. I adjusted my stance and continued to look the man in the eye.

"Who wants to know?" the man asked darkly. Dragon touched my shoulder, and I relented.

"There is information that he has that we need," Dragon said. "Please. It's to save someone very important to us." The man didn't budge.

"Who? From what?"

I stepped up again and looked the man square in the eye with a no-nonsense look.

"Herobrine," I answered, "From himself." The man's face twisted up in confusion.

"Who _are _you?" he asked, a note of hostility and disbelief in his voice. Dragon and I exchanged glances, and I smirked.

"This isn't the first time I've had to explain this to someone," I sighed. "You may not believe me when I tell you everything. It happened before, well..." I trailed off. "How about we sit down?"

The old man nodded and motioned us to a table and chairs. Seating himself at the head of the table, he gave me a meaningful glare.

"Now explain to me what this is all about."

* * *

The old man sat back in his chair, his brow furrowed in concentration. Dragon and I waited patiently for him to sort out his thoughts.

"I'm still not sure I believe you," he began, and we both tensed, "but you don't seem to be here for anything else I can think of. What information is it that you needed from Steve?"

We had told the old man- well, Warren, now that he'd told us his name- the tale of the Shadowfall and everything we knew of Herobrine from where we last saw him. I showed him my black blade, and that seemed to help convince him. I told him what we were, breaking Notch's rule once more, but I'm fairly certain he didn't believe me there.

"We need to know everything he knew about Herobrine. I mean absolutely everything. I don't know what has happened to him, and I've got over a thousand years of catching up to do." I let my desperation show, if only to convince the man. He still stared at me with this crazy look, but in the end, he shrugged.

"I can tell you what he told me," Warren offered. I exchanged glances with Dragon.

"You still haven't told us where he went," Dragon reminded him. Warren silenced him with a glare.

I got a tiny bit fed up.

"_Humans!" _I groaned. Dragon stared at me, wide-eyed. _Don't rub it in, _his eyes seemed to say. _We're strangers here. _I gave him a heavy look in reply. Bored and frustrated, I looked to make sure Warren was watching and retrieved an apple- from my inventory.

Warren yelled and stumbled back from his chair when he saw the apple mist into existence in my hand.

"There's only one other person here besides us that can do this," I reminded the big man. "You know who I'm talking about."

"_What _do you want?" Warren cried, flat against the wall as I stood, my eyes flashing white.

"For you to stop delaying us," I replied coldly. "I knew Herobrine, once. He saved my life, and I saved his. I don't know what has become of him now, but perhaps I can help. Somehow. For the better for _all _of us."

Warren nodded, recovering from his panic. He looked at me with the gleam of grudging respect in his eyes.

"Let me tell you what I know," he said, "and then I will tell you where Steve went. Deal?"

I considered this for a moment, and decided it was for the best.

"Deal."

* * *

Dragon and I trudged silently through the snow. I looked straight ahead, refusing to acknowledge my companion or pay any heed to the damp creeping up my cloak as the snow began to fall more heavily. I glared at the sky for one brief moment. It was nearly mid-spring. The snows would have stopped by now at home. Even the weather was unfamiliar here.

"I'm sorry," Dragon called from behind me. I stopped and turned with a sigh.

"It isn't your fault, or mine, or even these people's. It happened centuries ago." My voice was dull as I said this. I turned and continued onward, battling the headwind that was picking up.

If what Warren told us was true, then I had a lot to be mad about, and no one could blame me. According to Steve's account, as retold by Warren, Herobrine had been the protector of a kingdom here for a time. Later, a plot to usurp the rulers left the child heir to the throne dead and Herobrine framed. Shamans of Notch- I bit my tongue to keep from screaming- had been the ones to both paralyze and silence him, then allow him to be hung on display like an animal to be tortured by the crowds, and at last, sent _in that state_ to the Nether. Helpless.

No servant of Notch, real or false, would get away with something like that. I wished that they weren't already centuries dead.

I would throttle them myself.

I could sense something up ahead. Dragon was calling, but I motioned for him to be quiet. The wind was too loud, and the snow getting too thick, but I leaped up into a tree and searched the white expanse anyway. I could just barely make out two figures in the snow. They were past the squall line of the storm and out of the blizzard, but my view was still blocked.

I felt a mental pressure, and then something suddenly clicked into place. I was able to hear someone speaking telepathically to someone else.

"_Finish...now...never return...options...my actions...unforgiven..." _

I gasped and slithered down the tree as fast as I could. I knew that voice. I knew that voice!

The distance made it hard to hear the telepathic words, but I remembered my battle with Herobrine clearly. It wasn't his strong, cheerful tenor he used when he spoke out loud- instead, it was his deeper god-voice, and it was telepathic, but it was him! It was Herobrine!

"I heard." Dragon confirmed as soon as I reached the ground. Without another word, we took off running.

Running through snow, as you ought to know, is clumsy business. It was knee-deep in places, and icy underneath in others. It was slow going, stepping in and out of the white carpet of slippery snow. We passed the squall line and ended up blinking under the bright glare of the sun on the snow, but we were able to see the two clearly. Neither could see us yet, and at this distance, neither could hear us, either.

Herobrine was kneeling on the ground, and Steve was holding a sword tightly in his hands. It was almost a perfect reverse of the scene I witnessed at the village on the platform. I could sense Herobrine saying something to Steve, but I couldn't focus hard enough to make out the telepathic words. Steve kept shouting things in reply, pacing back and fourth, clearly distressed. I was ready to spring forward and interrupt, but Dragon put one arm before me, blocking my path at chest height. I glared, but he calmly shook his head.

Steve dropped the sword and turned away, stomping through the snow. I watched as Herobrine stood, seemed to call out to him, and then gave up, turning away. He spotted something else in the woods opposite to us, and went after that. When the two vanished completely from sight, I angrily shoved Dragon's arm aside.

"Why did you do that?" I snapped. Dragon grabbed the arm I used to shove him and backed me up against a tree.

"This was the _wrong _time to interfere," he hissed in my ear. "Notch gave you your abilities, and he gave me mine. Pay attention when I say it's the wrong time to go somewhere or do something."

I stared at him suddenly, realizing something. The wrong time to interfere...

With Herobrine?

He'd been hiding something for this very purpose all this time.

"You knew." I fumed. "You knew! How long did you know he was out here?! How old was that map?!" I angrily smacked Dragon's hand off me. He took a step back.

"A while now. I didn't count the years."

"Year- Dragon!" I couldn't even get my words straight. I turned away from him, putting my hands to my head. Taking a deep breath, I more calmly asked, "Why did you keep this from me for so long?" I heard Dragon shuffling in the snow behind me.

"I told you, the time wasn't right." His voice was apologetic. I turned to face him, my eyes lividly white.

"How stupid do you think I am?" I snapped. Dragon's eyes darkened with internal anger. Patiently, he stood and waited for me to finish while I kept on going. "I would waited until the right time if only you had _told _me! You know me better than that!"

"And for what?" Dragon asked, the question coming out sharply. "Waiting to what end? Huntress, the worst thing for you is waiting and being unable to act. You would have waited but _at what cost? _You made your peace with Herobrine's passing centuries ago. If I had told you he was alive when I found out, it would have eaten you alive from inside through the years. I-" His voice nearly cracked, and he turned away. "I couldn't do that to you. Not ever."

I fell silent for a while. Dragon didn't meet my eyes, which steadily remained white.

"That's sweet of you," I admitted, my voice flinty, "But also archaic." He turned to face me, surprised. "I went through the Nether and the End at the Shadowfall, and you think the pain of knowing would kill me?" I took a shuddering breath, giving myself strict orders to calm down. "Dragon, you know I'm strong." I turned and went for the now-empty clearing.

"Huntress," Dragon called from behind me, "Which is worse- being held back or left alone?"

I couldn't say.

I hated both options.

* * *

We caught up with Herobrine at sundown. He stood at the top of a sheer cliff. I knew where we were- we were on the mountains overlooking the ruins in the huge valley I had seen. Herobrine stopped, seeming to watch the sun from where he stood as it sank down into darkness. Dragon and I hurried forward in the snow, but as we approached, he raised his head and vanished from sight.

"Where-" Dragon began to inquire, but I cut him off.

"Somewhere in the valley." I said, out of breath. "You have to know where you're going to teleport." Dragon gave me a funny look. "I can teleport, okay?!" With a shrug, he let off. He strode to the edge of the cliff and looked down.

"So... how do we catch up now? There's no easy way down..." He was just thinking aloud and didn't intend for me to hear, but I did and I was ready to smack him. Angrily pacing up to him, I grabbed him by the rim of his chestplate and yanked him up.

"_What _did I just tell you?!" I hissed. Not waiting for a response, I focused carefully on a bare patch of stone on the valley floor. Calling upon as much energy as I could and channeling the energy in the crystal on my armor, I released it suddenly and we teleported down to my target spot.

"Nice," Dragon remarked. "When did this come about?" He asked, meaning my ability to teleport. I tapped the crystal embedded in my armor.

"I learned how to embed different spells into End crystal shards. This one in particular has the same essences as an Ender pearl. I didn't finish them all before we left- if I had, I might have been able to figure out how to add flight to the mix."

"_Flight?_" Dragon whistled and grinned. "That much, then? I underestimated you there." I grinned humorlessly back and turned to look around at our surroundings.

We were standing on a small circular stone outcrop surrounded by rough grass and brush. There were some scraggly trees, bent from strong winds, but mostly the land was clear of forest. There were regular-shaped patches clear of growth here and there, some still with the remains of stone walls. One even had a door frame still standing. We walked down the grassy gravel path that led to the great fortress looming threateningly against the twilight sky.

"This..." Dragon looked up in wonder. "This is almost as good as some of our work." We both knew this was human-built. That coming from Dragon was a high compliment, considering we had decades to perfect our work. These people had to work fast while they were in their primes. And they had to work together, in an organized group as a united body. From what we knew, humans usually didn't do that so well. To build something like this, it had to be a very well-coordinated kingdom of humans. A very peaceful group that put their differences aside, at least long enough to build.

Was Notch onto something by not letting us here? Did he want to see if it was even possible for humans to figure something out without help? These humans did, and they had to fight off the night besides, because there were no guardians on the continent.

I had a new found respect for these beings here.

We reached the entry of the fortress, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the doors open. Dragon began to get out a torch, but I stopped him. It felt wrong to taint this seemingly untouched place with harsh, intruding light.

"No torches. Just bear with me, okay? I don't think light would help us if we ran into anything, anyway." Dragon nodded at my warning and put away the unlit torch.

We ventured into the fortress slowly. I found myself unconsciously holding my breath as we carefully stepped inside, as if it was a crime to disturb the very dust on the ground. Snow had blown in from the open doors- Dragon and I left clear footprints despite our best efforts. Anyone inside would know we came in.

I listened and probed about with every last one of my senses, even willing my eyes to change. You may not know this, but when my eyes change from my normal blue to white, I am able to see better in darkness and across large distances. I willed my eyes to switch now, casting a vague glow about the room from the intensity of my focus.

We passed through the front hall and into a labyrinth of smaller passages. I turned a corner at one point and stopped dead. Dragon just barely stopped short of running into me. I peered down at the floor just a few feet from my toes.

There was a huge rift that split not only the floor, but the ceiling and walls as well, separating us from the rest of the fortress by a broad gap. Too far to jump. It was as if the fortress stood on a fault line, and either side had shifted apart and a few meters in opposite directions. The rest of the corridor lay across the rift and off-centered so that the outer wall met cleanly with nearly the middle of the part we stood in. I could hear a familiar dry rattling from the other side. Mobs were out.

"We need a different place to cross," I decided. Together, we turned and went back the way we came.

I decided on going up the stairs and into the second story of the fortress- perhaps it would be easier to cross there. While we were on our way, I discovered something extremely pleasing through an interesting-looking door.

Pausing at the tall, ornate double-doors, I pressed my palms flat against them and gently pressed inward. The doors opened with a soft, ancient groan with a few sheets of dust falling as they moved. Inside was a massive library, almost as impressive as the one beneath the Temple of Notch.

I gawped at the entryway, and when Dragon stopped to see what I was gawping at, he gawped to.

Easing my way inside, I brushed my fingers along the books nearest to the door. This truly was a treasure- a thousand years worth of human history that I wasn't here to experience... it truly was an incredible moment for me. Knowledge was my greatest treasure. Even my own library at FireForge, filled with many books that I had even penned myself, seemed modest in comparison.

Dragon pulled a book off the shelf and flipped it open, then chuckled. I leaned over to see what he laughed about. He held up the book for me to see clearly.

"Doesn't this remind you of something?" He asked, and I snorted back a laugh myself. This brought back memories...

The language, while it looked strikingly like the language in the _Book of Notch _or the _Book of Herobrine, _it was almost indecipherable. I could pick out one or two words here and there, but the rest were made of characters I didn't recognize. Undoubtedly the same language- but a totally different script.

I remembered how Herobrine had so remarked about the _Book of Notch _before the Shadowfall, how he couldn't read the script because of how it had so changed over the centuries. Sobering suddenly, I turned away, a vague pang digging at my chest.

Even after so long, the scar Herobrine had given me would still twinge every now and again. Especially when I thought of him. None of my other scars would do that, not even the ones inflicted by the Shadow. They'd all healed by now.

Dragon snapped the book shut and re-shelved it, turning away from the books and heading for the door. I hesitated for a moment, something bugging me at the edge of my consciousness. I furrowed my brow and tried to concentrate on it, but whenever I thought I got a grasp on it, it got away before I could tell what it was. One thing was for sure, though.

I could tell we were no longer alone.

"He's here," I whispered, and Dragon froze. With quiet hands, I guided him to the door and urged him on, hoping he would catch my point. Act normal. He already knows we know he's somewhere, just don't let on any more than that.

Dragon seemed to get it and strode on as if nothing had happened.

We went further along, and found a place where the huge rift in the castle narrowed to a few hairline cracks in the floor. The hall we walked in was less displaced than the ones we had encountered earlier, but we still crossed carefully, unsure if the floor was ready to give underneath us or not.

A few paces ahead of me, Dragon walked into a very, very dark room. I heard him stop, shuffle a few steps, and then suddenly light bloomed within the room and he loudly swore.

"Dragon?" I called, rushing in after him. I stopped dead in the doorway.

Dragon was holding a torch in his hand and standing a few steps back from a canvas that covered the wall. It was the painting that made my feet fuse to the stone.

The painting depicted a huge mob in mad frenzy about a central platform holding one stone pillar shot with iron shackles and cuffs. My eyes traced over the bloody unfortunate held in those cuffs, and I cried out in horror. The painter's hand was clumsy on the facial features twisted in agony, but one thing was clear. White eyes.

This was Herobrine under torture.

I made a small choking sound as my chest twinged again, harder this time. Swallowing back strangled sobs, I slid down to the floor, leaning on the door frame. The ache in my chest got worse instead of fading away, dissolving into a horrible burning that spread. I knew the feeling- it was the pain mixing with pent-up anger. And hatred.

"How could..." I choked on my words. "_How _could they do this to him?" I clenched my jaw hard as another twinge racked my chest. A thousand years of hidden-away sorrow and despair came slamming back to me as I struggled with this new reality. I already knew what had happened from the second-hand story narrated to us by Warren, but this was worse.

This painter had been there. He had painted this scene as a work of art, to be viewed and appreciated like a landscape or a still life. He had put it up so that generations after might admire the moment he captured- so they could enjoy the view of Herobrine's awful pain in the comfort of the fortress. Probably while they sipped their drinks and chatted with their partners.

It made me sick, how _okay _with this they were.

"By Notch," I groaned, my face twisting from the pain and the tears just waiting to be shed. Gripping the stone doorway so hard I heard it crack, I stumbled to my feet and smoothed my features out properly. Dragon watched with a mix of fury and no small amount of nervous anticipation in his darkened blue eyes. He knew my black rages, and he knew I had to work my way out of them myself, or flirt with disaster.

Breathing hard, I approached the painting and laid a reverent hand by the depiction of Herobrine's face. He made that expression at the Shadowfall- I still remembered, the way he lay broken and bleeding under the unnatural midday twilight coming through the windows of the Temple that horrible, horrible day. Then they smoothed out suddenly, as his strength vanished, draining away faster than his blood. I remembered his eyes in that last moment-

_NO! _

I forced the memory away, taking a cautiously deep breath and hugging my free arm tight around my aching chest. My next breath was deeper, and the pain faded away as my ribcage expanded fully to allow the damp, chilly air.

"How old do you think this is?" I asked Dragon, returning to my more sensible self. He shrugged. We studied the cracked and yellowing painting for several long moments. Gravity had caused the canvas to sag slightly, especially in the middle, so there was an X shaped fissure running through the paint from both diagonal corners. From the way the bright oil colors had faded, I ventured a guess.

"It has to be at least centuries old," I thought aloud, remembering some of the paintings kept at the Temple. "Perhaps five, six hundred years?" _Dear Notch... _

Suddenly, I could feel that presence again, all at once and crushingly close. I turned and gasped, stunned. White eyes glowered back at me from across the room.

Before I could react, they were inches from my face, narrowed tightly in an unmistakable sneer. Two hands clapped over the sides of my head, pressing uncomfortably hard.

Something forced into my mind. Hard. I cried out involuntarily as a flood of energy and a foreign consciousness blasted into my mind painfully fast. The whole exchange took place in less than a heartbeat.

Dragon turned and shouted in surprise, and I heard his sword ring as it was whipped from its sheath. Herobrine's hands fell from my skull as he backed away, growling deeply like a cornered predator. Suddenly without support, I fell to my hands and knees, one hand grasping my pounding head.

"NO Dragon!" I shouted, my own voice loud enough to make me wince. Herobrine and Dragon stopped moving, and instead regarded each other suspiciously in the wavering torchlight. Groping around the floor, I found my bearings enough to move over to the canvas and use the support of the wall behind to stand. I leaned heavily on the wall and looked closely at Herobrine.

He wasn't the same as the last Herobrine I knew, although his face was the same. His clothes were different- he wore a tattered teal shirt and matching blue pants, the same as any male guardian would wear- or the Steves before us, for that matter. His hair was cropped much shorter than I remembered, as well. Instead of jaw-length, it hung just about his ears, and the weapon he held now all of a sudden was a shining diamond sword, not a pickaxe. My eyes stung again. Herobrine looked wrong holding a sword.

Gazing into his dully gleaming eyes, I probed at the rim of his powerful mind and began to carefully penetrate the mental defenses, opening my mind to his. He telepathically caught on and his presence rushed into my mind again, our thoughts jumbling until a connection could be made. The sword vanished from his hand, away into his inventory. I righted myself back onto my feet proper.

"_Who are you?" _Herobrine asked, his deep thought-voice echoing weirdly inside my head. I answered out loud to clue Dragon in on what just happened.

"We are warriors of the North, from across the continent and the sea." I didn't hint on anything more than that. Judging from Dragon's warning stare, it would be dangerous to just let everything loose at once. Herobrine raised his chin and narrowed his eyes.

"_This is a dangerous time,_" Herobrine said warningly. "_Why are you here?_"

Dragon looked at me, confused. I glanced at him- _just a moment,_ I communicated- and looked back at Herobrine.

"We came to this fortress to find answers," I replied, with a weighted look at the painting to my side. "We came to _you _to bring you back." Herobrine snorted.

"_Is that so?_"

Dragon stepped forward and repeated the process with Herobrine to forge the mental connection. I sensed that they exchanged a few words unheard by me because while Dragon was staring intently, Herobrine threw back his head and laughed.

"_I will humor you for now,_" he said, for both of us to hear. "_What is it you wish to talk about?_"


	3. FEARED

AFTERGLOW

PART III: FEARED

Dragon and I stood a few paces back from the ancient stone throne in the main hall, where Herobrine sat with his loosely-curled fist resting lightly against his mouth in a pose suggesting deep thought.

_This was how he always sat, _I thought. _This is just so strange! I'm standing in front of Herobrine, yet not Herobrine. Not after what happened. Is he even still in there?_

"_My past?_" Herobrine scoffed, and Dragon inclined his head. "_Young mortal, I do not speak freely of my past._" I jerked slightly at the way he addressed Dragon.

"Once, long ago, you knew us," I pointed out. "We are a part of your past."

"_Really?_" Herobrine clearly did not believe me. I narrowed my eyes, focusing carefully on the mental link. I would show _him. _He didn't remember his past, but we did. I had the memories to share.

Dragon caught on to what I was doing at the last second and landed his hand heavily on my shoulder, shaking me out of my concentration. He returned my stormy glare with his own. Herobrine watched our exchange with indifference.

"_You believe you can help me?_" Herobrine continued on, "_Tell me- how aware are you of the gravity of my situation?_" I pursed my lips.

"Only so far as we have been able to gather from secondhand sources," I confessed. "Herobrine, there's a reason we're asking you."

"_And what of my say in your little quest?_"

"What happens to you is all up to you," I answered with a shrug. "But if you would allow us," I began with a meaningful glare at Dragon, "We genuinely could help. You don't remember, but we've been through this before." Herobrine gave me a faint smile, and his eyes glowed with slightly stronger intensity.

"_There is nothing you can say that I can trust._" His voice was a deep rumble in my mind. I scowled. We truly were getting nowhere. _Oh, Dragon, this seems like a good time to show proof... _

"Tell me," Dragon suddenly began, "Who were the people that condemned you to the Nether?" Herobrine slowly sat straight up, glaring Dragon in the eye. Dragon met his gaze coolly.

"_Shamans of Notch._" Herobrine's mental voice was tight and plucked with anger. My scowl loosened a little.

"Oh, really?" I wondered aloud. Then I spoke clearly to Herobrine. "I heard that there was a shrine to...Notch...within this fortress. Where might I find it?" Herobrine's face closed in with anger. His hands gripped the armrests of the throne tighter and tighter. He stood slowly.

"_Why do you ask?_" he sneered. "_Is it to beg the_ _damned god to heal my soul?_" He paced around me while I stood stiffly, intrigued by his sudden rage. "_Or is it to ask him to seal it away again?_"

My eyes flew wide. Herobrine had paced a half-circuit around Dragon and I and stood behind us. I whirled around and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. He nearly lost his balance and fell against me- he was surprised by my strength.

"Listen," I spat, "We didn't come all this way to a place _well beyond our reach _and break half the rules just to see you put aside to rot. When I said we came to help, _we meant to help you!_" Herobrine jerked out of my grip and angrily strode back to his throne, seating himself again with a huff.

"_Where did you come from, then?_" he asked, eyes still blazing. "_Not the general area. I want to know exactly where you came from."_ I respectfully inclined my head and answered truthfully.

"You already know we come from the North. How far north, I couldn't say. It was several weeks journey cross-country to here from the shore by foot, and several days sailing from shore to shore. Our home is on a separate continent. My home is a city known as FireForge, a place I built myself many days journey inland from the sea on horseback. If an ordinary human had made the trip, it would have taken months." Herobrine looked up in interest at my last sentence.

"_What do you mean, an ordinary human? I presume you are something more than this?_" Herobrine asked, and I nodded. Dragon shot me a warning look, but I ignored him this time.

"We have to say it sometime," I reasoned to Dragon, and he remitted. I returned my attention to Herobrine. "We are indeed not human. We are a race made before mankind meant to protect them and the world we share with them. We are called 'guardians'. There are seven of us in all."

Herobrine sank back into his throne, weighing what we said. I took several deep, deliberate breaths in through my nose and out through my mouth, working to remain calm and patient. Herobrine had artfully dodged two of my most important questions- his past, and his punishers. The two questions I needed answered before the end.

"_I have one question for you, guardians,_" Herobrine insinuated. "_Who sent you?_" My eyebrows went up.

"None did. In fact," I answered, "We're breaking several rather strict rules in being here. But...our creator... is being lenient this time because he owes us." I took care not to say Notch's name after the reaction the name had only just drawn from Herobrine. I wondered what he had against Notch this time. A millennium of experience told me that Notch was not the only deity in the Aether, and he wasn't always perfect. He was simply the strongest, for now. It seemed ironic that there always seemed to be a grudge between the two gods. And this time...

Herobrine could not remember he was the brother of Notch.

I knew there was a good reason behind his creation of us, the guardians, and it wasn't all to do with taking down the Shadow. I didn't know what else there was against Notch, but I suspected something there. Maybe something worse than the Shadow.

Herobrine chuckled darkly at my answer.

"_Rebelling against your maker and abandoning your realm to chase after me,_" Herobrine mused. "_What do you want of me that you would do so much?_" I thought over my answer carefully.

"You cannot remember most of your past, Herobrine," I explained. "From what I gathered so far, you only remember this past thousand-odd years and no more. You are much older than that, you must realize. Tens of thousands of years older. We came with the hope you could regain who you are. What you are." I ran a hand through my hair, which had fallen into my eyes. I wasn't wearing my helm again, because I needed to be able to see around me in the dark castle. I hoped things wouldn't escalate to the point where I needed it again.

Herobrine's eyes narrowed suspiciously, but he remained silent. I ventured to ask one of my questions again.

"You spoke of shamans of Notch being the ones who banished you to the Nether," I began. "Would you describe them?"

"_Are there worshipers of Notch in your land?_" Herobrine snapped in return, brushing aside my question again. I exhaled sharply, frustrated.

"Among the humans we protect, there are." I answered cautiously.

"_What about among the guardians?_" He asked, not even trying to disguise his hostile probing. I looked to Dragon, but he remained silent. With a quiet sigh, I returned my gaze to Herobrine.

"The term 'Worshipers' suggests we be submissive to another being. No guardian is, not even to Notch. Once we knelt to him, but now when we speak to him, it is on even ground." My voice was tight. "I personally have had some recent disagreements with him. He's better than you are at dodging questions." Herobrine stood sharply.

"_What are you to Notch?_" he demanded, startling me into stepping back. Dragon took over suddenly, standing straight and unmoving.

"We are his creations, like all people of this world today," he answered, his voice strong and unwavering. "We were created as his guardians first to destroy his greatest enemy, now to protect his people, which are the humans. We were given our domains over which to guard, and forbidden to go beyond until a short time ago." Dragon paused for breath, and I watched as Herobrine's eyes glowed ever so slightly brighter.

"As an unexpected side-effect," Dragon continued, "We ran into you, long ago. We fought each other for a time, and then we fought together for a common cause. There's a lot of history between you and us that we still remember and you do not, Herobrine."

I don't think Dragon was finished, but Herobrine suddenly had his sword in hand and lunged at Dragon. Dragon just barely had his sword out in time to parry, and fell back a half-step from the weight of the blow. I ripped _Shadowfall _from its sheath and prepared to help.

"_I knew it,_" Herobrine growled, echoing menacingly in our minds. "_Dogs of Notch! You are nothing more than his mewling brats coming after me again!_"

I swore and leaped into the fray when Herobrine threw Dragon off his feet. His sword clashed with mine with a deafening crash of diamond to obsidian. My eyes blazed white and matched his in intensity.

"What if I told you it wasn't Notch who sent you to the Nether this time, huh?!" I shouted desperately as I struggled with Herobrine's blade. _Notch, he's strong! _

"_It matters not. He allowed it! What god of goodness would allow such injustice?_" He threw me off balance to the ground and struck again. I rolled away fast enough that his sword squealed off my armor and threw sparks instead of striking directly. His sword glanced away off my side and instead skidded on the floor, sending chips of stone flying. I hurried to my feet to fend off his next blow. Dragon was peeling himself off the floor where he had fallen. Apparently he had fallen harder than I had.

"WHAT-" I grunted as I parried his crushing overhead swing, "if I told you Notch did everything he could to keep you- _uhng__!_- from getting hurt? There are other powers out there! Don't you know- _oof!" _

Herobrine had switched his grip and slashed my side faster than I could block. His sword struck edge-on dead onto my side where there was a seam in my chestplate between the smooth plating and where it flared out. The blow was hard enough that I felt it through the armor and felt skin break underneath. I folded under the blow, my breath coming out fast, and went down hard, snapping straight again as I hit the floor. Dragon took over from there, parrying the blindingly fast blows in deep concentration.

"Don't you know what you are to Notch, Herobrine?" I croaked, but he gave no hint that he was listening. "Can't you remember _who you are to him?!_"

Herobrine stabbed straight with incredible strength and speed, and I watched in horror as Dragon didn't stop the blow. He probably didn't even see it coming- it was just a blur. Dragon had raised both arms to sweep his sword over his head, and Herobrine had simply appeared under his left arm, stabbing hard where there was an opening in his enchanted diamond armor. I heard diamond squeal on diamond, and Dragon gasped in pain, sinking to the floor coughing. He vanished suddenly, armor, sword and all, leaving Herobrine standing there, sprayed in his blood. I used the wall to struggle to my feet, sneering.

"What has become of you this time, Herobrine?" I hissed. "I watched you _die _a thousand years ago after you saved my life, and now you're back as a ruthless killing machine. You don't remember anything. You only rediscovered your own name _by mistake!_" Herobrine was there in an instant, his sword ready for the swing. Without hesitation, he slashed hard horizontally. My face was thrown sideways so it smacked against the wall, and a deep, aching agony exploded across my throat. As I slid down the wall and collapsed to the floor, I realized Herobrine had just cut my throat.

I was unable to turn my head. Coughing weakly, hot fluid spurting from my mouth, I closed my hand in vain over the gaping wound and waited as darkness overtook my vision.

My eyes closed and I was slammed into blackness.

* * *

_Huntress. _

I struggled with the oily darkness that weighed me down. Someone was calling my name- I could vaguely hear it from somewhere beyond my consciousness, but I couldn't move. I was having trouble re-awakening after this resurrection.

"Huntress."

There it was again, sounding weirdly warped, but audible. I was able to vaguely feel my body, which felt like one big Huntress-shaped splatter of burning and pins-and-needles sensations. I tried to open my eyes, nothing happened. With a sudden wave of panicked frustration, I forced myself back into my body by sheer force of will and tried to open my eyes again.

It worked, and I got a flood of blurry light for my trouble. Little by little, my swirling vision cleared, and I was able to make out Dragon's face bent over me. Feeling returned to my limbs and the burning and itching went away. I was able to sit up normally, shaking my head side to side. I was in my black armor and still had everything in my inventory.

Good. Dragon and I had buried a command block at camp just to be sure, but I was worried that we had gone out of range. Dragon offered me a bottle of water, and I took it gratefully, gulping thirstily.

"What now?" he asked. I put down the empty glass bottle and stood, fishing my helm out of my inventory and putting it on, adjusting the armor around my neck as I did so.

"We go back." I answered simply, and Dragon jumped to his feet in surprise.

"You can't be serious-" he began.

"I am."

He stopped and stepped back a little.

"You're sure?" He debated, and I nodded with certainty.

"You saw him back there," I reasoned. "You saw how bright his eyes were going. I know that look, Dragon. He was going under. We have to get back to him as fast as we can to keep him from going any further." Dragon considered this for a moment and finally nodded his understanding.

"You're right."

He tied his hair into a short ponytail and tucked it under his helm, and we took off across the forest, jogging towards the cliffs surrounding the fortress. When we could no longer run forward, he gripped me tightly by the shoulders and I teleported us directly to the fortress from the cliffs. We sprinted inside.

An icy wind met us as we crossed the front hall, followed by a wordless roar. I drew both my swords, and I heard Dragon draw his.

Herobrine appeared and went rushing past us with a blast of wind that flattened Dragon and I to opposite walls, leaving the path open for him.

"NO!" I screamed against the wind, but it was too late, Herobrine was off. The doors boomed shut, and the wind died down. I yelled in frustration, running back to the doors and kicking them open, launching myself outside.

Herobrine was nowhere to be found.

I swore.

"Now what?!" I demanded to no one in particular, viciously kicking a clod of snow. Dragon sheathed his sword. I watched him as he strode out into the open, looked up at the sky, and huffed a deep breath of the frigid night air.

"We just need answers, right?" Dragon reasoned. "We can't do anything for Herobrine until we know exactly what's going on, and Warren's account was less than detailed." I sighed.

"Fair enough," I decided, grudgingly agreeing with Dragon. _Step two, assess situation. Right. _

"I'll go to the Village," Dragon offered, "while you check out the shrine if you can find it." I looked up at him.

"On your own?" I asked, and Dragon nodded. "Why?"

"Because I'm the charming one, remember?"

I laughed outright despite myself and turned back into the fortress.

"I can't argue with that," I called over my shoulder as Dragon walked off into the distance. I turned back into the darkness of the fortress, adjusting my eyes to the blackness to find what I sought.

* * *

I finally found the shrine at about sunrise. It was deep inside the fortress, at the lower levels. I had to teleport across the rift in the castle to reach it, as there simply was no other passage leading to it. I found that out the hard way by doing no less than scour every passage in the fortress.

I discovered a small room with an altar in the center. Well, I thought it was an altar until I got close. I took one good long look at the broad obsidian table and decided that it wasn't one. I looked to the back of the room and saw that there was a much smaller, humbler altar made of stone with a few odds and ends still on its surface on a dark altar cloth. That was it.

I came closer and examined it. The symbols on it were strange to my eyes, and the colors and materials used a far cry from the Temple back home. I looked back at the obsidian blocks behind me.

Suddenly, a thought struck me. I started searching the shrine for some kind of writing. Anything at all. I fished under the altar, looked in the wall niches, and even checked under the dry-rotted rugs, but I found nothing.

That is, until I found a secret door. It was hidden behind a tapestry on the wall. I turned the knob, and the door creaked open.

Behind the door was a tiny dormitory secreted away. There were several bunks standing empty and covered in dust, and a wardrobe filled with dark robes that crumbled away where I touched them. There was a bookshelf on the far wall, and the books, constructed of sturdy leather and vellum pages, stayed in one piece when I brushed them with a cautious finger. More daring by this, I pulled one off the shelf. It stayed together just fine.

I opened one to the title page and tried to decipher the words.

To my surprise, it wasn't in the same script as the books in the library. Instead, it read clearly on the title page,

_Gigksal Fo Sesrev._

I had to read over it a few times to realize what it was.

The language of the gods. Sscalaaerfion taught it to me at FireForge, when he was stuck inside on a rainy day in my manor. I quickly translated it in my mind.

Verses of Laskig.

I furrowed my brow at the unfamiliar name. Laskig? I knew I had heard it somewhere before. I just didn't know where. I flipped a few pages deeper in.

_Semoc er'e yad lanif eht erofeb_

_Gnirb ew tsum nam fo slous eht_

_Lla re'o selur ohw eno eht ot_

_Gnis ew eman s'ohw eno eht ot_

_Speek re'en eh 'oht "Giksal"_

_Htarw s'rosserpo eht ecaf ro, eman sih_

_Mih d'hsinab ohw one eht esruc_

_Eman sih esiarp yleslaf, ylteiuq tey_

_Eh si hcton_

_Eman sih esruc_

_Spil yht morf elihw_

_Esiarp deyenoh wolf._

I felt a deep rage rise up in me as my mind sluggishly translated the words. I read over it again just to be sure, and came to my conclusion.

I slammed the book shut with a bang and stowed it in my inventory. Angrily, I rushed out of the dormitory and breezed out of the shrine, yanking the altar cloth off as I went and making all the altar ornaments fall to the ground. A shrine devoted to Notch didn't deserve such sacrilege as this.

_That explains everything! Notch DAMN those blasted, two-faced, Nether-spawned, slimy little snakes! _

The stream of mental cursing went on until I reached the outside door. I realized I still held the black altar cloth in my hand as I crunched out onto the snow. Giving it one last foul look, I tossed it away, and tossed a lit torch after it. The ancient wool went up in flames. Looking up, I shaded my eyes from the bright morning sun and looked around. The snow had quit falling at last, but the path was covered completely.

I went on my way, stomping through the snow and kicking up sprays of powder behind me as I went. Dragon had to know as soon as possible that those "shamans" that punished Herobrine weren't of Notch.

They were traitors serving another god.

I teleported up onto the ridge.

* * *

To say Dragon was having a little trouble would have been an embarrassingly obvious understatement.

To be honest, I've never seen a mob that big after Dragon.

I didn't bother to try and work out what the mob was screaming. I heard plenty of less-than-flattering names and many mentions of the name "Herobrine", but nothing else of use other than lots of waving of weapons and angry fists at Dragon, who was holding still atop the platform in the center of the square. I decided it was time for me to have a little bit of fun and ignore Dragon's warnings.

Look where they got him, after all.

I waited until the crowd had drawn up close to where Dragon stood and focused hard on a spot just in front of him. I gathered the energy on that spot and released-

And teleported neatly onto the stage.

The crowd drew back in terror as I simply appeared before them. I heard 'Herobrine' whispered in horrified awe more than once.

I pulled off my helm so they could see my face, and as a last minute afterthought, focused to make my eyes change from blue to dead white. I shook out my hair as a breeze caressed it- I had it braided and coiled under my helm, but the tie had come undone and so the braid flopped loosely and unwound when I shook my head.

The mob went silent when they saw my face. I doubt they knew what to think.

"I call for Steven Stonewall," I shouted out to the people. "Is he here?"

No one answered.

"Where is Steven Stonewall?" My voice echoed against the stone and wooden houses, but was answered again with silence.

"_What are you doing?_" Dragon thought-spoke to me from behind.

"_Speeding things up._" I seethed back in the same manner. "_You will not _believe _what I found in that shrine_."

Someone coughed loudly and pushed forward through the crowd. A white-haired man with dancing bright eyes wearing glasses stepped forward.

"He- _E-HEM! -_He left, uh, Ma'am." the man croaked, his voice rough. I could see dark bruising around his neck that led down beneath his shirt collar. I trained my gaze on him, and he fearlessly looked back at me.

I decided I liked the man.

Jumping down off the stage, I confronted him directly while Dragon watched with curiosity.

"What is your name, sir?" I asked evenly. He looked me in the eye.

"Nigel, ma'am. Just call me Nigel."

"Well, Nigel," I said with a smile, "You may address me as Huntress. Please don't call me ma'am, I'm old enough as it is. Tell me, do you know where Steve went after he left?"

"I, ah, I don't really know ma- uh, Huntress. He didn't say and I didn't see where he went after he left..." Nigel trailed off suddenly and dropped his voice. "After he left from talking to Herobrine."

That piqued my interest.

"You saw him speak to him?" I asked sharply, but Nigel shook his head.

"I backed off when we saw the white-eyed one appear. I figured it wasn't safe."

_You got that right, _I mused, remembering how unstable Herobrine was when we last left off most recently.

"Do you have any idea what direction he went after the...conversation?" I inquired, trying to keep my voice steady.

"I didn't see him go," Nigel began, and my heart sank, but then he went on, "But I searched around when he didn't come back. There were tracks leading west of here, if that helps, and Steve would have been the only traveler on the roads." I heaved a deep sigh of relief.

"Thank you," I breathed, sincerely meaning it. Turning back to Dragon, I reached over our mental link.

"_You know what do do now."_ I said, and Dragon nodded. He came down off the platform and we walked out of the square. The people parted before us like water, drawing back just as they had before to give us a path. When we were clear of the village, I put my helm away in my inventory and began to re-braid my hair as we walked.

"West," Dragon remarked. He turned to me. "That leads right to-"

"Steve's home, I know." I finished for him. I finished my braid and carefully coiled it flat against the back of my head, pinning it in place and securing it more tightly this time with a wool bandana over my head. I settled my helm back onto my head and motioned for Dragon to walk closer.

"Sscalaaerfion taught me a trick I could use with teleportation that he worked out for traveling in the rain," I whispered in his ear. "Now hold on tight. I'm going to get us to the city before sundown."

Dragon nodded and moved behind me, closing his arms tightly around my waist, instead of my shoulders. I raised an eyebrow at this, but he didn't notice. With an exaggerated sigh of mock disgust, I began to focus my energy to a place on the road a good distance ahead of us.

I teleported.

As soon as our feet touched the virgin snow, I teleported again. Then again. Then again, moving fast across the landscape until finally, the wooden palisade of Steve's hometown was in sight, nestled in a forest of oaks. I focused for my eyes to change and sharpened my sights on a very small figure entering the gates on the side nearest to us a quarter-kilometer away.

Steve.

I tapped Dragon's forearm, and he released my waist, walking at my side now as we made our way to the city. He flashed a grin at me, but I deliberately worked to ignore him. I removed my helm and threw my cloak back on my shoulders, leaving my face open to be seen and my arms free just in case.

The gates were shut when we arrived, but I flashed emeralds at the guards on the palisade, and the gates swung open to admit us. Money worked like a charm here. Each guard got a couple of emeralds for his trouble, and on we went, not looking back.

I walked along the gravel streets in search of the Stonewall family dwelling, and once I was able to find my bearings and the correct street, we found the small oaken house just before the sun slipped completely beneath the horizon.

Dragon knocked on the door, and immediately Mrs. Stonewall answered, looking shocked to see us again.

"Oh, um, please! Come in!" She flustered, sweeping aside to allow us entry. Dragon graciously thanked the woman and stepped inside, shedding his cloak. I did the same, and something caught my attention just inside the door.

There were two swords leaning against the wall- one stone, kept in a neatly worked leather sheath, and the other a naked diamond blade that shimmered with vague red light.

Steve was home all right.

I didn't see him anywhere in the main room, but the door to the other room was shut. I ventured to guess that he was in there.

"Is Steven here?" I asked Mrs. Stonewall, and she nodded, gesturing to the other room. "Can we talk to him?" She nodded again and vanished into the other room. closing the door behind her. Dragon and I exchanged glances and sat down in the two chairs before the fire.

I listened to the muffled conversation going on behind the door. I couldn't make out the words- I was too tired to bother- but I could hear that Steve was definitely interested in two people asking for him. I heard a few surprised words go between him and his mother and smiled. That had to be about the diamonds I handed over.

Steve emerged from the room wearing an awed expression.

"You..." He gulped. "You paid off our debt." That was all he said.

Dragon and I nodded, and Dragon stood and offered his chair to Steve. Steve accepted his offer, sinking gratefully down onto the wooden seat. I scooted mine around to face his and came up a little closer, leaning forward a little.

"It was the least we could do. Your mother pointed us on our way to you, and you led us to Herobrine. It was a worthy cause." I said soothingly. Steve looked up sharply.

"To Herobrine?" He sounded shocked and confused. "What do you mean? Who are you?" I softly laughed and smiled. Steve realized what he was doing and backpedaled quickly, trying to smooth over his mistake.

"I- sorry. I don't mean that. I... I just..." He stumbled, but I held up my hand.

"It's fine," I consoled. "We _did _just appear suddenly and out of nowhere with no explanation, paying off you debt and going after Herobrine..." Steve looked at me with a horrified expression.

"You don't mean-"

"_No _no no, not like that," I quickly amended. "Allow me to start at the beginning. And I truly mean _the beginning._"

Dragon gave me a hard, flinty-eyed look, but I stared right back.

"We owe him this much," I pointed out. "He's the one that's been closest to Herobrine this whole time. And look at his arms! Those aren't rose dye tattoos!" Dragon glanced at Steve's arms, and then did a double take. He immediately knelt down closer to take a better look at the hairline scars that spider-webbed over his arms and continued on under his shirt.

"You're right," Dragon breathed, while Steve sat there awkwardly, glancing between the two of us. Stepping back, he took his place leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. "He's been in the Nether." There were dark red-stained scars on his arms that no doubt were the reason Steve smelled ever so slightly of sulfur and the unique musk of the Nether. He'd gotten cut up while he was there, and the dust off the netherrack had gotten into his wounds.

Steve started.

"How- You already- I didn't think anyone else would believe me!" he burst out. I chuckled at his astonishment.

"Since you have already seen the Nether and, as far as I've heard from your friend Warren back in the village, you gained not only Herobrine's trust but friendship as well, you are the one I have needed to speak to most." Steve looked at me with mixed emotions behind his eyes.

"What is it you need from me?" he asked cautiously.

"I need you," I answered in all seriousness, "to answer all my questions. But first, I intend to explain our presence here. My name is Huntress, and this is Dragon," I explained, and Dragon nodded his greeting. "We came on a mission to save an old friend."

"...Herobrine," Steve guessed, and I nodded.

"Sharp boy." I held up my hand to silence his _I am not a little boy! _protests, and continued. "Do you know the story of how this world was created?" I asked him, and he nodded.

"Notch created the world over a period of seven days, and-"

I stopped him there.

"I see you don't know the full story, then." I began. "Allow me to fill in the blanks."

I settled back into my seat and began with the story of creation.

"In the beginning, there were the two creators..."

I talked on through the night.

* * *

**Hey guys! Amanda the Huntress here, the almighty story spinner behind this newest creation. I hope you enjoy this little teaser so far! I would like you to know that there are some Easter eggs here for the future REAL sequel to A Minecraft Tale. You can try to pick them out once I get started on actually publishing it. (Or properly finishing A Minecraft Tale for that matter...:P) **

**Now would be a GREAT time to leave a review if you have any suggestions, and BlackDragon41, as the contest deadline fast approaches, I will anxiously await your final verdict. Here I stand with QueenCelina33 (make sure you read her story "Hand of Mercy", y'all) and I'm not sure who else in bitter contest for that one-shot.  
**

**A reminder: THIS IS NOT THE REAL SEQUEL TO EITHER STORY. This is a CONTEST piece made for fun. If you would like to see any characters added to the REAL sequel, or any cool events or things done, slap it into a review or P.M. me. Don't be shy- silence will get me nowhere.  
**

**See you next chapter tomorrow! **


	4. FALLEN

AFTERGLOW

PART IV: FALLEN

A hush had fallen over the Stonewall house at last in the early hours of the morning.

Dragon lay on his bedroll laid out on the floor, his hands behind his head and his chest rising and falling softly and slowly. Steve had fallen asleep in his chair. I sat in mine, resting my chin on my folded hands with my eyes closed, deep in thought. I was still reminiscing over my most ancient memories.

Isn't time a funny thing? Some days pass quickly with barely a breath of space between them. Some pass from memory completely just a few weeks after they happen. But some moments are so rich with energy and momentum that they last for small eternities, and they make huge bubbles in you memory, always floating to the surface and never popping.

Even when you live as long as I do, and see as much change and growth as I do, things within you don't change. You still walk the same way, speak in the same manner...Time will give you greater grace and eloquence in both places, but the same people have the same pet names, and you always manage to skip the same squeaky stair in your house. And some changes, you may find, are permanent.

My trust in Notch took a nasty beating after what happened to Herobrine at the Shadowfall. Notch wouldn't answer any of my questions, and simply told me, cryptically, You will understand in time.

It had been a thousand years of waiting. I only was beginning to get answers now because I had broken free of Notch's sound advice.

I wished I had done so earlier, but the humans of my realm needed me. I wondered what could have happened if we had found Herobrine earlier, but

I knew it was useless. The only thing no one could ever change was the past. Anything can be altered for the better but the past.

So, sitting in my chair with my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands, I began to put the pieces together.

Steve had given the account that Herobrine had appeared in this land longer ago than even Herobrine cared to recall. I assumed it would have been soon after the Shadowfall. Herobrine had wandered about, avoiding mankind and civilization until he met a young man by the name of Lionel Stonewall.

From there a friendship was forged, and Herobrine was hailed by his true name for the first time by the sovereign of Lionel's home, Antecedent Element. He was charged with protecting the heir, and did so for many happy years. If the events had unfolded differently, Herobrine may have recovered his memories long ago.

At some point, the heir was shot by an assassin's arrow. Herobrine tried desperately to save him, but from what I gathered, it was far too late into the tangled plot of treachery for him to do anything. He was framed for the injury of the heir, and that was when he first succumbed to his blinding rage. In his desperation to reach the heir, he tore a rift in the earth- the very one that we encountered in the fortress-, and at some point in the fighting, the heir was killed.

That was where the tale darkened.

Herobrine was put under strong enchantments by the so-called shamans of Notch. He was both paralyzed and silenced, so that no coherent words would ever again pass his lips. He was unable to move his body, though he could still turn his head and move his eyes.

Worse still, Herobrine was chained up like an animal onto the pillar in the city square those five or six centuries ago, and given over to the wrath of the crowds, who tortured him incessantly for his crime.

Finally, the last blow came.

The shamans were summoned again, and Herobrine was banished to the Nether and sealed there. From how Steve described it, it seemed the Shamans had been able to break the sealing spell Herobrine had cast before the Shadowfall somehow. Instead of using a vertical Nether portal and speaking the needed words to pass, like I had used for a short time before abandoning the dimension altogether, they used an obsidian pit of lava and some sort of enchantment that overpowered Herobrine's. Then they sealed it.

I remembered the obsidian slab in the temple and shuddered. That was where Herobrine lay.

This was all done by the servants of a thing called Laskig. I had read over the Verses of Laskig a little more, gleaning a few things about the deity.

First, he was one that rebelled against Notch. Not driven mad and used as a weapon- he truly turned on him and left the Aether so suddenly that the book couldn't seem to decide whether he had left willingly or was cast out. He somehow ended up in the End- sometime during my lifetime-, and from there he directed his followers.

Something clicked in place as proof of that happening- The Enderman. Sscalaaerfion had told me he was still unable to return to the End. Even though theShadow had fallen, he spoke of an "alien presence" there, and his "alienated race", set apart from his people. I noticed the change, too. From the teachings of the Enderman, I could understand the End tongue, and sort of speak it with a thick accent. There was a growing number of Enderman who did not speak this language- in fact, they simply seemed to burble and cry to each other in a rude imitation of human speech with their Ender voices.

They also did not move like the Endermen I once knew, and I knew them well. There was a rising change. If Steve was right and the thing in the End was turning human souls to Endermen, that would explain the difference.

Steve eventually admitted that Herobrine was trapped in debt to a creature of the End, one that communicated through an Eye of Ender, from the description he gave. He had also described the voice of the thing. It was deep and resounding and spoke in a sneering, mocking way. It reminded me shockingly of both the Shadow and of Herobrine when he was enslaved by it.

The last nail on the coffin was that it had spoken of how 'Notch had not even given him a name'. That was how the Endermen had spoken to Herobrine of the Shadow before the Ender War. That was how something spoke when it had been stripped of its name and identity and didn't want to admit it.

It had to be Laskig, the one who was named and yet never to be named. It simply had to be.

Laskig had cleverly tortured and imprisoned Herobrine using his servants under the guise of servants of Notch, and then made a deal that Herobrine could not escape- "I'll remove my magic from you if you bring me the souls of mankind".

All put together, it made an ugly picture that made me sick at heart.

What have you been up to, Notch? I wondered. How much have you been hiding from us this long?

I thought bitterly of the many long days in the Temple, waiting in fruitless silence for any word from Notch. When I was two-hundred and twelve years old, I had angrily demanded answer. I was going to leave my city and roam again, hoping that I would find the answers I had been refused myself.

Notch had replied to me then, forbidding me to go. He didn't say why.

For the next eight hundred-odd years, I went out of my city to roam my domain and greet people every so often, falling into the pattern of going to one city or another each year on a certain date. It had helped ease my pain and my impatience, to go out and see my people, safe and happy under my protection. When there was need, they would come to me and I would give. When there was not, I was left alone. I didn't get very close to my people- seldom did I learn anyone's names beyond the priests' or the leaders'. I kept to myself over that time, writing my library and studying alone with Sscalaaerfion.

Now I had my answers.

The light of dawn was just filtering though the window when I broke out of my meditations and opened my eyes. Steve was still fast asleep, but Dragon was stirring. I got up slowly and began to work my stiff limbs.

"I've got the answer," I told Dragon as he sat up and smoothed his hair. He looked up at me expectantly.

"Know what to do?" He prompted, but I shook my head.

"I just know what happened. Here-" I took out the _Verses of Laskig _and handed it to him. Dragon took it and chuckled.

"Always consult the book when in doubt, huh?" He prodded and I laughed humorlessly with him.

"Very funny," I admonished. "Here's what I gathered. Remember what I said while we were fighting?" Dragon nodded.

"It may not have been Notch that punished Herobrine," he recalled.

"It wasn't Notch, and I can prove it." I explained. "I found the shrine and the former quarters of the shamans. It was farther from Notch's ways than we are from the End. And the things I read in that book seal the case."

Dragon opened the _Verses _and flipped to the fifth page under my guidance. He may not have known as much End lore as I did, but he was able to read the Aether language just fine. I watched as his face darkened and he began to murmur the words out loud.

"Notch is he, curse his name, yet from thy lips, flow honeyed praise..." He trailed off, slamming the book shut and springing to his feet, nostrils flared and eyes flaming with rage. "Notch _blast it!-_" I stopped him before he could go off on a rage like I did.

"We don't have time for this!" I hissed, trying not to wake Steve, who had only just fallen asleep a few hours ago. "We need a plan!" Dragon looked me in the eye.

"You have any ideas?"

"Not yet, but-"

"Then we're going to have to wing it until one of us does."

Dragon pushed his hair out of his eyes and handed the _Verses of Laskig _over to me. He took a deep breath and began rolling up his bedroll, appearing completely calm on the outside. I followed suit, picking up my helm and cloak and preparing to go. But something struck me suddenly when we were ready to leave.

"Dragon-" I began, and he turned to face me, "It was at least five days traveling to the village from here, right?" He nodded. "So that should have taken a human at least a week and a half, maybe two weeks. Why did we meet Steve here so soon? I was actually expecting to have to wait for him here."

I watched the realization in Dragon's eyes.

"So how did he get here so quickly?"

"Didn't he say he met someone on the road? An old man with dark eyes? Balding?"

We looked at each other and then at the sleeping Steve, coming to the same conclusion at the same time.

_Notch was here. _

Steve slowly opened his eyes.

* * *

I shared the conclusions I had come up with with Steve, and when I finished, he got up so fast he knocked over his chair. Steve put his hands to his head, as if the new knowledge was threatening to burst out of his skull. I knew he couldn't believe what he was hearing- it was so sudden. So incredibly different than what he had believed before. I explained to him that we needed badly to find Herobrine, but he was unable to give us any clues.

"He said when we last met, he would give himself over completely to blind rage if I didn't kill him. He could be anywhere, doing anything. I... I'm sorry."

We thanked him anyway and left quickly, leaving the city by the same gate we had entered in. I strode fast with my cowl pulled low, deep in thought.

Why had Notch gone to speak with Steve? Clearly Steve didn't know who he was. Likely he was there to glean from Steve what had become of Herobrine, but that didn't make sense. Notch could go anywhere to know anything at any time. He could have done so this time effortlessly.

Unless...

Something was blocking him. The Shadow had done so before, to hide what he was doing to Herobrine and to the original Steve race. If there was something out there strong enough to take down Herobrine again, it likely could keep Notch from seeing anything within a given area. With the right tricks involved, he could have kept Notch from interfering with anything.

The thought gave me chills.

I stopped suddenly, the wheels in my mind working faster. This was another war. We were up against a being that was as strong as the Shadow- no that wasn't right. He didn't wage war the same way as the Shadow. He was quieter, more cautious. If he was as powerful as the Shadow, he would be waging an open war fearlessly, not trying to keep his advantage in concealment. So he wasn't nearly as old or as strong as the Shadow, but just as crafty, knowing both how to block Notch and how to enslave his brother's wandering soul. That meant he was either of the same origins, which wasn't possible, or he was once very close to one or the other. I assumed that he was closest to Notch, and had turned traitor and gotten himself thrown into the End.

My head began to ache, and I came to a decision. Pulling the tiny crystal around my neck from underneath my shirt, I went off the trail and onto a place where the trees gave way to a large clearing. Dragon didn't ask, he just followed, trusting that I was up to something worthwhile. He watched as I seated myself on the grass and gave me a questioning look.

"This is something Sscalaaerfion gave me. It's useful for things such as, oh, long-distance telepathic calls?" I hinted, and Dragon caught on. He nodded his approval.

"We need backup," I explained. "I'm summoning the others here. With any luck, they'll be here in less than two weeks- Wait a minute, I'll tell them to use the teleportals!"

The teleportals were a system of travel that Dragon and I had set up with the others, centering on the Temple of Notch. They consisted of command blocks set for specific coordinates and a redstone prompt of some sort to power them, in this case pressure plates. You simply picked the place you wanted to go and stepped on the plate, and off you went to the landing pad at your destination in the blink of an eye. We used it for emergencies.

I called this one an emergency, all right.

Cupping the crystal in my hands, I closed my eyes and focused through the crystal, imagining myself flying bodily across the Overworld at the speed of light until I hovered over a walled-in flower forest.

Rose's home.

My spirit-self sped through the forest, not bothering to dodge the trees in my path. It came to a huge and beautiful complex made of stained glass and stone that seemed to simply rise out of the earth and grow with the rest of the landscape. Rose was inside. I called out to her directly, and felt her attention grasp on to my presence.

"_Rose._" I thought-whispered, and the connection strengthened.

"_Well met, Huntress," _she replied, her words flowing smoothly over the thin connection. She was much better than Dragon at telepathic communication. She would be the one to alert the others.

"_I need help where I am," _I told her. "_Tell this to Sky and Lee. I need them to alter the coordinates in their __FireForge-bound teleportal to this:_" I gave her the long strings of numbers, repeating them a few times when she asked just to make sure.

"_Got it," _she replied. She had written them down.

"_Good. Now tell everyone to go to them and use the new teleportal to get to us. Dragon and I are waiting here. Hurry. We may not have much time. I'll see you when you get here."_

_"See you then." _Rose replied, and I cut the connection, satisfied.

"What's about to happen?" Dragon asked, and I grinned.

"Let's just say that having command blocks at your disposal makes everything _so _much easier." I replied, and left it at that.

We waited.

* * *

**[END OF PREVIEW. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO VIEW MORE, I APOLIGIZE. NOTHING MORE EXISTS] **

**Hi everyone! Amanda the genius almighty author here. This, as much as I hate to say it, is the end of my teaser! I hate to cut you off, but it is now June the 28th, and I am out of contest time! Sit tight, the real one will be coming soon. Got any suggestions? Comments? Concerns? Declarations of adoration? (Or hatred, perhaps...) ? Just make sure to leave me a favorite or a review (A review would be great) and get ready for the huge ending of A Minecraft Tale and the REAL sequel. **

**I did just kind of leave everyone hanging at the 13th chapter, so count this teaser as a peace offering for you, and for me, a contest piece that will hopefully win a one-shot from BlackDragon41 (*cough* *cough*) **

**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this beautiful 20,000(ish) word short, AFTERGLOW and the would-be late adventure with Huntress and friends. Coming up next, _A Minecraft Tale: Red Winter!_**

**See you soon! That's all for now. **


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